Independence Day
by crazypoet13
Summary: It's almost Independence Day and that means another one of America's parties, and he drags his brother Canada to help him. America's scared to invite his former caretaker, England. This particular event is when they parted ways, after all, but Canada helps his brother out by inviting the Brit anyways. Human names used and rating for England just in case! AU(?)
1. Preparations

**Heyo~ Poet here! This is my first fanfic dedicated to Independence Day (July4) and I hope you all like it! :) Sorry, I suck majorly at categorizing. . . OTL But this story will be finished by July 4th~! :D**

**Hope you enjoy! Please notify me of errors that I missed! :)**

"Mattie come on! We have to start getting ready!" Alfred urged his older brother as he took the sleeve of his favorite hoodie captive, all the while pulling him along.

"E-eh? But it's three days from now, why are we getting ready so early?" Matthew helplessly followed his younger sibling; he long since gave up protesting against Alfred and thought about the events that transpired earlier.

_Alfred burst through the door of his room, eyes gleaming with excitement, and proclaimed in a loud voice, "Mattie! We're going shopping!"_

_Jumping at the sudden intrusion, Matthew turned towards his brother with a confused face and looked at the clock. 4:30pm. "W-what? But it's almost dinner!"_

_Alfred visibly frowned, flailing his arms out, "But Matt! It's important, we have no time to waste!"_

_"No ways Al, I'd rather stay home and relax. . ."_

_". . . " Matthew heard footsteps approach him._

_". . .? Al Are you- H-hey!" the Canadian was suddenly abducted by his brother as he was taken against his own will to do God knows what with Alfred. For the first few minutes he flailed, trying to get Alfred to release him from his grip, but eventually gave up. Seriously, who could wrestle themselves from someone who was able to lift and spin a bison as a child. A_ bison. . .

_'Curse Al and his strength. . ' Matthew thought glumly._

Though he knew that once his little brother was excited about something, there's no sense stopping him.

"Dude! This is gonna be the best party ever, and the best party ever needs time to prepare so that everything is awesome! So, in that case we have to go to Party City!"

". . . That's what you said about last year's party. . .And what's Party City?"

"No bro, it's gonna be better than that! And in my country, Party City is this _huge_ store filled with all kinds of awesome things for parties and holidays and stuff!" Alfred explained, still with Matthew in tow.

Matthew sighed, 'You said that last year too. . .'

Deciding on keeping his mouth shut, Matthew thought about the reason for the event that led to his current position. Yes, in three days it will mark another year of freedom for Alfred and his country, '_Independence Day'_. The day that America finally broke free from the oppression and rule of Great Britain resulted in America finally becoming its own independent nation. With each year, Alfred always hosted a huge barbeque party at his house, each a little different but still held a signature feel to it.

Hearing the faint whirring of what Matthew thought was sliding doors, he realized they had just entered Party City. Alfred made a beeline for the aisle containing food ware, all the while getting distracted by the decorations in the store itself. Matthew could see the excitement and pride swelling in his eyes as he took in the store, subconsciously letting go of Matthew's possibly stretched out sleeve. All around there were slight decorations in honor of Independence Day. The red, white, and blue colors of the American flag decorated register aisles; and the respective colored streamers floated elegantly in the air. After Alfred finished gazing, he made his way to his destination, with Matthew trailing behind him. After stopping at one end of an aisle, Alfred turned to face his brother.

"Alright Mattie, you take the next aisle and I'll take this one. Now remember! Look for something awesome, something that screams 'best party ever!' okay?"

Matthew sighed but smiled, "Okay, meet back here in around fifteen minutes."

Alfred nodded and started looking, while Matthew walked to the aisle over, which happened to be the cup and plates aisle, and scanned the different decorations on the shelves while deciding to start with cups first and looked for things that seem to fit his brother's expectations. There were some that seemed promising and some that just weren't what they were looking for, so Matthew decided to narrow the candidates down to two and let Alfred decide the winner. He heard a voice in the aisle next door, "Whoa, cool!"

Matthew chuckled and thought to himself, 'Seems like Alfred found something interesting.'

He continued to look for plates, in the meantime passing by some ware that said "Independence Day!" or "Fourth of July!" or "Celebrate!" Matthew just shook his head at the different phrases that he set his eyes upon. He looked until he found one that said "Party!" Sighing at how generic it was, Matthew decided to just take the plates and headed to Alfred. Matthew thought as he walked and remembered catching a glimpse of the aisle Alfred claimed, realizing that that particular aisle was just utensils. Chuckling, Matthew shook his head, 'Just like him to pick the easier thing to do.' He reached the end of the aisle and saw Alfred standing there, holding a few packs of napkins, spoons, forks, and knives. Alfred grinned at him.

"Yo! Right on time bro, you got the plates and stuff?"

"Yeah, but there's one thing you have to decide on, which cups do you want?" Matthew asked as he held up the two packaged columns of cups. Alfred grinned," Alright! Leave it to the hero to make the final decision!" Alfred stared at the plates that Matthew were holding and studied the cups. After a few minutes of debate, Alfred piped up, "The left one! It matches the plates the most, and just perfect that it matches the utensils!" Matthew looked at the utensils in his brother's hands and realized that they weren't normal utensils. Then a realization hit him, "Y-you actually _looked_?"

Alfred pouted, "Hey, hey, a hero can be serious when he wants to be!"

The Canadian laughed and waved his hand, "Right, sorry. . . So should we pay and go home?" he looked at his cellphone clock. _5:45pm._ Hearing Alfred agree, they head for the cash register and pay for their supplies. After paying, they started their walk home, "We have to come back tomorrow!" Alfred stated with a nod.

"E-eh? Tomorrow? Why? Didn't we buy everything?" Matthew asked surprisingly.

"Uh no? What's a party without decorations, _especially _if it's supposed to be the best party ever!"

Matthew's shoulders slumped before a defeated sigh escaped his lips, "Fine. . ."

When they arrived home, Matthew and Alfred placed their supplies on one half of the kitchen table and made dinner, using the other empty half of the kitchen table to eat. Tomorrow would be another day of shopping as well as the invitations being sent out, and mixed feelings floated around the table. Matthew's feeling of reluctance and dread, and Alfred's feelings of excitement and glee. When dinner was finished and cleaned, Matthew sighed and spoke, "Alright Al, now it's time for the invitations."

"Alright! I know just who to invite! You can invite people too Mattie!" He grinned.

Matthew chuckled and nodded, "Wait now, don't forget to make a list of whom we've sent and who we haven't."

With Alfred nodding vigorously, they both set to work bringing out a bunch of paper and writing out unique invites to each of their friends.

A total of almost three hours had passed and it was around ten o'clock at night when they decided they finished. The invites were as followed:

_Alfred: Kiku Honda, Im Yong Soo, Yao Wang, Meimei, Roderich Edelstein, Elizabeta Herdervary,Ivan Braginski_

_Matthew: Feliciano&Lovino Vargas, Antonio Fernadez Carriedo, Francis Bonnefoy, Ludwig&Gilbert Beilschmidt,Kaoru_

The two shared their lists, making sure they didn't forget anyone. "All good?" Alfred asked.

Matthew's eyebrows furrowed slightly, '_Wait, isn't someone missing?'_ Matthew had a guess and decided to ask his brother, "Hey Al, you don't want to send and invite to Arthur?"

Matthew looked at his brother with confusion and curiosity. Alfred's gaze faltered slightly, "O-oh, well he's probably too busy, like always. . . S-so there's no need to send one!"

Matthew didn't respond right away, thinking about what Alfred said. '_Now that I think about it, of all the years that Al had the party, I don't think I saw Arthur at any of them. . .'_ Though it could be because of the fact that it was _Arthur, _who Alfred broke away from; besides that, the air would be too awkward for them. "But who knows? Maybe this time he won't be busy! You should just send him one anyways." Matthew attempted.

Alfred paused, "S-sure,. . ." He grinned nervously before turning his eyes to scan the list desperately. Seeing something to change the topic Alfred thought, '_ Thank God!...'_ He frowned, "Mattie?"

Knowing that Alfred wouldn't do it, he made a mental note to do slip Arthur's invitation in with the others. Matthew raised an eyebrow at his brother's sudden change in demeanor, "Y-yeah?"

Alfred pointed to a name on his brother's list, "Why is _Gilbert Beilschmidt's_ name on your list?"

Matthew frowned, "Al, he's my best friend. Of course I'd invite him. Besides, you can't tell me _not _to invite him?"

"Yes I can! It's my party! Plus why would you be best friends with that bastard! He's bad news dude. . . He'll ruin my best party!"

"Al, you said I could invite who I wanted; I want to invite Gil. That's that. Wha-? Al he came to your party _last year!_ Why not this year?"

"Be-! . . ." Alfred didn't know how to formulate a reply. It was true, Gilbert did come last year. "Fine. . ." he said through gritted teeth.

Matthew smiled triumphantly and started placing the invitations into small envelopes and wrote the addresses of all their friends. With the plan of sending them all out tomorrow, Matthew made an extra invitation and secretly wrote Arthur's address on the envelope before slipping it into his pile of invites. He smiled internally, hoping Alfred didn't happen to sift through the pile, all there was to do was get some sleep and hope for the best tomorrow.

**A/N: that's all for this chapter! :) Working on Chapter two at the moment^^ This will be a short story, maybe a few chapters? I would estimate three to four chappies~! :D**

**Hope it's okay so far~!**


	2. Final Preparations

**Heyo guys! Wow! I just uploaded a few hours ago and I already have faves and followers! Thank you so much! I guess that means this isn't as junk as I thought it'd be! Well, here's another chapter! I'll start on the third, but I'll most likely update tomorrow :) Or maybe later on if I feel epically on it!**

**Happy birthday to my beloved Canadian by the way~! ;D I have not forgotten you! w**

**Well enjoy!**

"Al wake up! We have to mail these invitations _now_ if we want them to get it today!"

Matthew rushed around the house he shared with his brother, making sure they had the piles of invites prepped and ready to mail as well as remembering to feed his polar bear, Kumajima. After not hearing any sort of reply from Alfred, he sighed frustratingly as he placed Kumajomu's dish on the ground and entered his room, "Al come on, we have to get ready."

There was the faintest stir in the blankets before a muttered sound came from beneath the pile, "Not now Mattie. . Five more minutes. ."

Matthew sighed and grabbed the edge of Alfred's blanket and whipped it off him, watching in amusement as Alfred flinched and jolted up.

"What the hell Mattie?!"

"Good morning to you too, now hurry up. We have to finish shopping for your 'best party ever' right?" Matthew made quote marks in the air as he turned to leave Alfred's room. At hearing the mention of his party, Alfred perked up and bolted out the door, his reluctance fading quickly.

"Aw yes! It's tomorrow right?! Man, we have so much to do bro! Why didn't you wake me up earlier?" Alfred said just before he slammed the bathroom door to get himself ready. All Matthew did was sigh and hang his head, " I did though. . ."

With Alfred finally up, he decided to wait by the door with the two piles of invitations. He saw a big white ball of puff head into the kitchen where he placed his dish of food. At the same time he heard the bathroom door fly open, followed by a small scream.

"Ahh! Kumajirou! Watch out!" Alfred appeared not a second later with a pout, "Mattie your polar bear was trying to kill the hero!"

Matthew chuckled, "Yeah yeah, now come one!" He handed Alfred his stack of invites as they rushed to post office, just barely catching the mailman and releasing their invites for him to deliver. With sighs of relief and content, they made their way to Party City once again, this time they were looking for streamers. The moment they stepped into the store, they didn't waste time in going where they needed to be. They both took either sides of the aisle and picked out different decorations as well as streamers of red, white, and blue. Despite realizing their tight schedule, they still managed to get distracted and waste a good ten to fifteen minutes before heading off to the register to purchase their goods. Finally done with the decorational shopping, they rushed home to drop off their items before rushing out to the grocery store for the foods that they would want to prepare. When it came to food, Matthew and Alfred sometimes had disputes.

"We need a lot of hamburger meat!"

"E-eh?! What for?"

"Hamburgers of course! The hero loves his hamburgers!"

"A-Al, you're not gonna be the only one there… How about we get some different stuff?"

"Mattie! You're so mean to me. . . Fine, what do we get then."

"Well, I don't know? But do you think we need beer? Gil and Ludwig drink a lot of beer. . ."

". . ."

"I'll take that as a yes!" Matthew smiled as he turned on his heel towards the alcohol section.

"Maaattttiiiiieeee!" Alfred whined before following after his brother.

After fifteen minutes of bickering, disagreements, and being stared at, the two brothers finally finished their shopping and paid for them. It wasn't so hard to bring everything back home, even after realizing they bought more than they originally planned. After all, there was Alfred and his inhumane strength which came in handy; resulting in him carrying the majority of the groceries. Finally arriving home, Alfred dumped all the groceries in the kitchen, "Alright Mattie, what now?"

Matthew followed after his brother into the kitchen, "Well you can start by putting away some of the food that could spoil. Then we can start decorating if you want?"

Alfred nodded and began to messily put away the food, Matthew sighed as he grabbed the bags of decorations they had left on the table the day before and headed into the living room. Setting the bag down, Matthew emptied some of the contents of the bag with streamers and thought of how to decorate the average looking room around him. A few minutes of deliberation, Matthew grabbed some scotch tape, the other streamer rolls, and a sturdy chair and positioned it before stepping upon it. Unraveling each of the streamers, Matthew taped the ends together and stretched to tape the ends as far up the corner as he could, slightly on his tiptoes.

"Mattie!" A sudden yell sounded near him, making him jump and lose his balance.

"W-whoa!"

Matthew swayed a little before he felt hands steady him. Matthew shakily exhaled before turning to face the grinning face of his brother. "E-eh Al?! Don't do that! You scared me, and plus I almost fell because of you. . ."

"Well have no fear! The hero saved you from falling." Alfred declared, finally letting his brother go, "Anyways, need help?"

"Uh yeah, can you tape this into the corner?"

Matthew handed the joined ends of the streamer to his brother and got down to let his brother onto the chair. Taking the rolls of streamers, Matthew walked the length of the wall to the adjacent corner and spun the rolls to twist the streamers into a nicely twirled line. Alfred taped the first corner and got down, picked up the chair and headed to same adjacent corner as his brother.

"Al can you hold these really quick? I need to get another chair."

"Hm? Sure bro!"

Matthew handed Alfred the rolls of streamers before disappearing to retrieve another chair. A minute or so later, Matthew reappeared, placing the second chair beside the first one and stepped on one.

"Okay, pass me the rolls and stand on the other chair."

Alfred stood on the other chair and handed the rolls to his brother, watching as he twirled the streamers.

"Okay Al, now hold this area and hold it up to the corner, and I'll tape and cut."

Alfred nodded and held the said area and did as he was instructed as Matthew unraveled the rolls a little more to make it easier for Alfred to raise the streamers. Matthew looked passed Alfred and saw the nice dip that was made. Giving Alfred the okay, he brought down the group of streamers and Matthew severed the rolls from the extended steamers and placed tape on them. Alfred once again raised his arms to fix the other end of the twist to the corner, and getting down. They repeated the actions for the remainder of the walls and whatever decorations they could use. After a good few hours of decorating, they were finally done with the living room. Both brothers were slightly tired from the work, but they both knew well there were still some things to do.

"Matt I'm hungry. . ."

"Yeah, same here. . . Let's eat, it's getting late. I'll make us some dinner."

As if on cue, both their stomachs growled. Alfred cheered at the mention of dinner and rushed upstairs to his room, telling his brother to call him for dinner. Shaking his head, Matthew chuckled and headed into the kitchen and started on dinner. A good thirty minutes passed when Matthew finished cooking, placing the freshly made food on plates and set them on the dinner table. Matthew was about to head upstairs to call Alfred down until he heard the sound of quick footsteps approaching before Alfred came into view, his eyes wide and a grin on his face.

"Damn that smells awesome Matt!" Alfred sat himself at the table and began eating. Matthew chuckled before sitting down across from Alfred and commented, "Thank you, and you saved me the trouble of going upstairs."

Alfred grinned again but with a mouth full of food before turning back to his food. The brothers ate in comfortable silence, before long they had finished eating and Matthew cleaned up after the dinner. "Aw, I don't wanna do anymore things! I'm tired!"

Matthew finished the last of the dishes and turned to Alfred with a raised eyebrow, "If we stop now we'll have more work to do tomorrow."

Alfred pursed his lips in thought, "What else do we need to do though?"

Matthew thought for a moment, "We should clean the living room…"

Alfred groaned loudly, " _Clean?! _No ways!"

"Al, it's not even that messy."

"Right! So, let's leave it!"

"Al. . ."

"Ugh, fine. . .But that's it right?"

"That's it. Then we can take a rest."

Alfred sighed before he made his way to the living room with his brother. They set about cleaning the coffee table and the floor, all the while trying to figure out where to put said objects. After a while, both brothers decided to place them in a side closet. Almost two hours later, both brothers stared at the finally clean and presentable living room, sighing with satisfaction. Without a second thought, both brothers made their way up the stairs to get ready for bed. Both brothers showered in hot water, hoping the thermal heat of the water would unknot their tense muscles. Before long, Matthew and Alfred were in their respective rooms and beds grateful for the feel and comfy feel of the mattress below them. Matthew soon drifted to sleep, a certain polar bear sleeping at the foot of his bed; whereas Alfred was too excited for the next day. Eventually Alfred succumbed to the lull of sleep like his brother and soon slept just as soundly.

"Tomorrow's gonna be awesome. . . " Alfred muttered happily before falling asleep.

**That's all for this chapter~!^^ Hope it still kept up to your expectations. . . Hopefully I-. . . Actually I think our other main character will appear in the next chapter. Yes yes~ our favorite foul mouthed Brit~!**

**Thanks for the love guys! :) Stay tuned!**


	3. An Invite?

**Heyo guys! Ohmygosh I'm tired. . Well. . . Here's another chapter, but it's short this time. Well this chapter is in Arthur's POV :D (that's why it's short) And I actually slipped this part in ****_after_**** I was starting on the "next" chapter. . . So technically I have the next chapter from this one in progress xD So stay tuned for another update soon :)**

**And I totally forgot to write the Disclaimer! OTL**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia or it's characters, they belong to Himaruya-Sensei :)**

It was July 3rd and Arthur simply had nothing to do. At that moment, Arthur was having his afternoon tea, thinking about things that would distract him from his boredom. In his attempt, his mind flashed an image of a certain blue-eyed blonde with his signature brown bomber jacket. Arthur blinked a few times in confusion; why was he thinking about _Alfred_? Of all people or things to think about, his stupid brain had to think about that idiot; but nowadays the stupid American was often on his mind. He didn't know why and he could only come up with the shoddy excuse that it was just his parental side flickering up every now and then. Besides, Alfred _was_ a former colony of his, it's just him being concerned for him and such. It was only natural. Arthur nodded to himself, with a slight smile; '_Who are you trying to fool you idiot?_' Arthur's attempts to reassure himself were shattered in a second as his conscience questioned him.

Still debating with himself, Arthur habitually raised the now empty teacup to his lips and snapped out of his trance when he sipped nothing but air. Placing his teacup down, he refilled the cup with freshly heated tea and thought about the reason why it was always July 3rd that got him so down, ' _Oh right…tomorrow's that day…' _Yes, tomorrow was July 4th, also known as the day America finally gained it's independence. The day Alfred and he parted ways. He thought back on the days where Alfred was just a little lad, always clinging to his legs and begging him not to leave him alone. He also remembered the simplicity of the days, the nostalgia made Arthur sad and glad. He knew Alfred always held a party on that day, but why he was never invited was puzzling. He _was _his former caretaker after all, why wasn't he invited? Is he scared? Does he even care? Does he think I hate him for breaking away from me? Does _he _hate me? Those were the questions that ran through Arthur's head. Though he didn't blame him for whatever reasons, he did have to admit that not getting invited did hurt his feelings; though he may never show it.

Ding dong!

Arthur snapped out of his thoughts as the sound of the doorbell rang throughout his English designed home. Pulling out a pocket watch, he looked at the time. _3:30pm_. "Ah, must be the mailman." Arthur stood from his seat and made his way to the door.

Ding dong!

"Coming."

Arthur opened the door, smiling at the familiar face of the mailman. "Good afternoon , your mail for today."

The mailman held out the small stack of mail to Arthur.

"Good afternoon, and thank you." He extended his hand to receive the stack of mail from him and nodded.

"Have a good day."

"Have a good day to you as well." Arthur said as he watched the mailman smile and leave.

Arthur closed the door behind him and headed back to his tea, scanning through his mail until he came to a small envelope with his name and address neatly written. With a raised eyebrow, Arthur sat down and opened the envelope, discarding the rest of the mail on the table. There was a card inside and he opened it, there written in the card was a letter:

_Arthur,_

_Hey, I know Alfred wouldn't have the courage to send you an invite, so I'm inviting you myself. I can tell he's scared to invite you, he probably thinks that you hate him or something. He says that he sends you the invites and that you don't come because you're busy, but I kinda suspected that he never sent you invites to begin with. . . Well I do hope that you come to the party on July 4__th__, I'm sure Al would be happy if you showed up. And just so you know, Al doesn't hate you at all, if you ever thought that. Plus it would be really nice to see you again! : ) Hope to see you! The party is at 4pm!_

_Love,_

_Matthew_

Matthew. Matthew. Arthur repeated the name in his mind a few times. '_ Who was Matthew again?'_ Then he remembered that Matthew was that other lad that was also his former colony and also Alfred's brother. He stared at the card in his hands; did he finally just get an invite? Even though it wasn't an invite from Alfred, it was still an invite. Not sure of what to do, Arthur reread the letter a few more times. An hour later, Arthur was confused and indecisive about what to do; deciding to put the matter aside, he went about the rest of his day, with the decision looming in the back of his mind. Hopefully he'll know what to do tomorrow.

**A/N: That's it for this chapter! :) **


	4. The Guests Arrive

**Whoot~! another chapter :) Sorry I realized that this is kind of. . . Boring o_o is it to you guys? Well, anyways I realized that there will probably be around two more chapters? I'm trying to get this finished before July 4th _ didn't expect this story to get so long. . . **

**Well, hope you're not too bored OnO"|| **

Nudge. Nudge.

Matthew stirred slightly but didn't wake.

Nudge. Nudge.

Groaning, Matthew woke up to the white face of his polar bear. Blinking a few times, Matthew registered the proximity of his polar bear and screamed; effectively scaring his pet and making him jump far back enough to fall off the opposite side of the bed. "K-Kumamochi?! Don't do that!"

The polar bear cocked its head seeming to ask 'Who?'

Matthew sighed as he untangled himself from his blanket and stood up from the floor, "I'm Matthew."

Dropping his blanket atop his bed, he always wondered why his polar bear never remembered who he was, despite the fact that he feeds him. Matthew reasoned that it wasn't anything unusual, since he also never seemed to remember the said bear's name. Matthew's eyes skimmed over the time before doing a double take. _12:45pm. _" 12:45?!" His eyes widened, realizing that he had slept well through the morning. He hurried out of his room and readied himself, today was Independence Day, and also the day of the party. '_If I just woke up now, Al must still be sleeping…' _Matthew went to Alfred's room, and was correct in his thinking, there on the bed laid a happily sleeping Alfred. Walking over he shook his brother slightly, "Al, Al? Come on time to wake up. Today's the day of the party."

Alfred groaned a little.

"Al, come on wake up it's noon already!"

Alfred groggily woke up, "Hmmm? It's too early Mattie. . ."

"Al. . . The party is in four hours. . . ."

Hearing that, Al's eyes widened before he scrambled out of bed. "Oh yeah! Today's Independence Day!"

Shaking his head Matthew walked out of Alfred's room and downstairs. Matthew checked everything for the party, deciding to start cooking some of the food and preparing things for the barbeque. Matthew got some ingredients out and decided he would make some of his pancakes for the party along with other foods. He set to work on preparing, deciding that even though pancakes aren't really barbeque food, people still liked pancakes. ' _Barbeque…Wait, barbeque?' _Matthew paused and gasped, "We forgot to buy charcoal!"

At that moment, Alfred walked through the kitchen door, "Yo Mattie! What do we need to do?"

"Al we forgot to buy the charcoal for the barbeque grill!"

"Oh. . . Don't worry bro! I'll go buy it!"

Matthew smiled with relief and thanked his brother. He got back to preparing the rubs and sauces for the meats and began the long few hours to cook before their friends started to come.

Three long hours later, Matthew had finished prepping the meat for the grill and stuck them in the fridge to chill, prepared some other snack foods, brought out a cooler and filled it with ice before putting beer and other drinks in it, and lined the food on the tables. Matthew decided last minute, to male pancakes when more people would show up, reasoning that cold pancakes weren't as good as freshly hot ones. Satisfied with his work, he headed upstairs to freshen up with a shower; knowing that he probably smelled like raw meat, spices, and sweat. After a nice shower, Matthew wore a clean red shirt and dark blue jeans and headed back downstairs in case some of their visitors decided to come early. Looking at his watch, Matthew frowned slightly, it was 3:20pm and Alfred still hadn't come back yet. "What's taking him so long?"

Matthew decided to call him, pulling out his phone and quickly dialing his brother's number. He held the cellphone to his ear, hearing it ring three times before going to the enthusiastic voicemail of Alfred F. Jones. Frowning more, Matthew ended the call and plopped himself down on the couch; why his brother wasn't answering his phone? He didn't know. All he knew was that if this was anything like the last time, Alfred would be late for his own party. Matthew shook his head, "What am I going to do with him?"

He passed twenty minutes idly, resting on the couch and occasionally getting up and strolling to the kitchen before returning to the couch. As the time neared for the party, he heard a couple voices; perking up, Matthew turned his head to the door.

Ding dong!

Matthew smiled slightly, finally guests started to arrive. Getting up and heading to the door, Matthew welcomed the guests with a smile. "Hello."

Matthew saw Elizabeta and Roderich. Elizabeta smiled just as much as Matthew and Roderich simply nodded . "Ah! You're…Erm…."

"Marco?" Roderich suggested.

Matthew chuckled nervously, "N-no it's Matthew"

Elizabeta clapped her hands in recognition, "Oh yes! Matthew! I'm sorry!"

Roderich nodded his head once again, "My apologies."

Matthew dismissed their apology and let them in. The couple walked into the home and sat themselves at the couch in the living room, making small talk amongst themselves. As Matthew walked into the living room, the doorbell rang again; heading to the door, he opened it and greeted the guest the same as the first. "Hello-"

There stood Ivan Braginski. Ivan smiled his creepy signature smile, "Ah you're. . . Michael?"

"N-no I-I'm M-Matthew."

To put it simply, Matthew was kind of scared of Ivan, but Alfred had invited him so he couldn't necessarily not let him in; not that he would even think of doing such a thing. . . Ivan still smiled, "Da, Matthew."

Not wanting to talk with him any longer, Matthew quickly allowed Ivan entrance to their home, smiling nervously as Ivan thanked him and entered. After Ivan had entered their living room, Matthew exhaled a supposed breath that he unconsciously held. Looking down at his watch again, it was around 3:50pm. Sighing, he closed the door and decided to call Alfred again; once again coming to his voicemail. Ending the call in slight frustration, the doorbell rang yet again and answered it accordingly. There he saw Kiku, Meimei, Yao, Kaoru, and Im Yong Soo standing there; "Hello Matthew-san."

Matthew smiled, thankfully; Kiku was a good friend and one of the few who really remembered his name. the others greeted him similarly and Matthew assumed that Kiku told them his name beforehand so they wouldn't get it wrong. Matthew allowed them inside and closed the door, realizing that the house was becoming noisier. A few minutes later and Matthew decided to try give Alfred a call again, but once again met the lovely sound of his voicemail and sighed.

Ding dong!

Matthew went to answer the door, unaware of a big puffball plodding down the stairs to the door. Opening the door, Matthew was about the say hello before he got bear hugged, "Ve~! Hello Matteo~!"

"H-hello Feli!" Matthew said, trying to breathe. In a few seconds, Feliciano let go. "Ve Matteo do you have pasta? It's okay I made a lot of pasta!"

Matthew laughed and noticed the other people with Feliciano; Lovino, Antonio, Ludwig, Gilbert, and Francis.

"Yo, Birdie!" Gilbert greeted, raising a hand up in greeting, the adorable yellow chick atop his head chirped in greeting as well.

"Hello Gil, Gilbird." Matthew smiled, but disappeared as he felt something trying to wiggle its way through his legs, "W-wha?"

Looking down, he saw his polar bear trying to see who it was, head turned upwards at the guests at the door. Matthew laughed, "Kumamichi wanted to say hi too."

Gilbert laughed as Gilbird fluttered from his head down to the polar bear. Francis took the moment to lunge forward and take his former colony into a hug, "Oh_ Mathieu ma chère~! _I have missed you!"

Matthew stumbled and returned the hug, "Papa! _Tu m'as manqué aussi."_

"Can we come in or what?" An irate Lovino asked.

"Lovi~ That's not nice!" Antonio chided happily.

"Che, _stai zitto bastardo_, and stop calling me Lovi! My name's Lovino damn it! Lo-vi-_no_!"

Antonio laughed as Lovino pouted. Apologizing, Matthew let them all in and told Ludwig he could put the pot of pasta in the kitchen or an open table. Ludwig nodded before heading off to find a suitable place to put the pot. Matthew closed the door and was taken captive by Gilbert, saying something about how his polar bear and Gilbird went to the backyard to play. Matthew laughed, and decided to hang out with Gilbert. After giving his brother another failed call, Gilbert began talking about random things, and Matthew happily listened. There was nothing he could do after all, his stupid hero of a brother wasn't answering his phone, he was slightly worried. Though if he talked with Gilbert, it would distract him from wondering where Alfred was.

'Where are you Al?'

**A/N: That's it for this chapter! :D**

**Don't worry, nothing happened to Alfred, he's just a distracted guy xD Hopefully it'll pick up a little bit afterwards**

**French:**

**Oh****_ Mathieu ma chère~ : Oh Matthew my dear!_**

**_Tu m'as manqué aussi : I missed you too_**

**_Italian:_**

**_stai zitto bastardo : Shut up bastard_**

**_Matteo: Matthew_**

**_Please correct me if my translations are wrong! I'm using Google Translate *cough*unreliable *cough* _**

**_Well anyways, thanks for the reads!_**


	5. Confused and Indecisive

**Here's another chapter! :D Sorry for the wait xD I got distracted and I woke up three hours later than I planned to OTL This is the second to the last chapter I think. . .I dunno~ **

**Well thank you to TheCheesyOne and reyrocks for your reviews and stuff! :) Makes me feel better about continuing my story^^**

**Enjoy!**

_July 4._ That's what captivated Arthur. His eyes were glued to his calendar as he simply just stared at the date in big bold letters. Today was the day, yes, today was the day. Arthur furrowed his eyebrows, it's Independence Day for America and he still didn't know what to do exactly; he got an invite for Pete's sake! That's what he's always wanted, right? To be able to go to Alfred's party and celebrate with him. He knew there would be other nations there, whom he could do without, but at least he'd be in the general vicinity of the boy. So he should go, seize the opportunity of finally getting an invite and show up. Though weighing the possibility that Matthew invited him without Alfred's knowledge was very high, compared to the possibility that Alfred _did_ in fact invite him but asked Matthew to write it for him. Shaking his head at the latter, he chuckled to himself at how unlikely such a reason would have happened; but still. He didn't know what to do.

Arthur groaned in frustration, "Why am I so bloody confused!"

He spoke to no one in particular, pacing moderately throughout his home. He wanted to go, so why was he still hesitant about it? The party was still a few hours away, so he had that much time to figure out what the hell he really wanted to do. Sighing, Arthur decided to give up on thinking for the time being, feeling the urge to calm himself with his afternoon tea. He hurriedly went to the kitchen to prepare it, in a few minutes the herbal smell wafted through the kitchen slowly, instantly calming the Brit's jumbled thoughts. Letting the tea chill for a few moments, Arthur took the teapot and his usual teacup and saucer before making his way to the table. Quickly pouring a cup, he drank the tea and flinched; the tea was still scalding hot. Sighing in defeat he waited until it was a suitable temperature that didn't burn his tongue crazy. As he waited, he turned to look out his kitchen window and stare at the life displayed through the thin glass. He rested his head on an upright hand, spacing out as his eyes drooped with boredom. Before he knew, ten minutes had gone by. Snapping himself out of his trance, he pressed his index and middle finger to the sides of his teacup and teapot; deducing that the heat was no longer hot but not necessarily warm. Arthur took a long sip of his tea and drank in not only the liquid, but also the herbal fragrance of the tea as it wafted through his nose. The smell enough was enough to calm his nerves, but adding the actual taste of it did wonders for Arthur; his tea was always a good way for him to think about things, or in this case, forget what to think about. The effects of his afternoon tea were amazing, everything he had been thinking that moment was replaced with a rushing wave of relaxation and tranquility.

After a few more cups of his tea, the next step of the effects started to lull him to sleep. Cleaning the utensils he used, he made his way to his bedroom, hoping to get some sleep and think about whatever it was that he was thinking about before.

Alfred walked around the store, not necessarily on task. Alfred's logic was that all he had to do was make it to his party on time, no big deal! He had an hour or so to kill, so might as well! Alfred was feeling a bit hungry as he was walking around, thinking a little he remembered that there was an empty ice cream parlor a store or two down. Deciding to put his main task aside, he hurried excitedly to the parlor. Looking over the flavorful choices the parlor held, Alfred dubbed this a new task, Operation What-Flavor-To-Get. Feeling pleased with himself, he started to narrow down the different flavors. Vanilla? Rocky Road? Cookies n' Cream? Or maybe Neopolitan? Indecisiveness was etched into Alfred's features before he gave up. "Y'know what? I should just get them all!"

Alfred grinned and asked for all the flavors he wanted, making the worker surprised yet happy that they were getting some kind of business. After receiving and paying for four separate bowls of ice cream and loading them with toppings, Alfred made his way to an empty table and started on the Neopolitan bowl first. Taking a big bite of ice cream and some gummy candy, Alfred turned his mind to his party that would be taking place soon. He thought of all the people he would be seeing and the things that they would be eating; his mind then flashed to a certain Brit. Frowning, Alfred paused a few seconds before taking another bite of ice cream. He ate mindlessly as he thought about Arthur. Sure he felt horrible for chickening out in the end and not giving Arthur an invitation, but what's he supposed to do if he was scared? Arthur must be hurt, he didn't break away from him after all; if he were Arthur, he wouldn't want to go to a party that their former colony is having. He understood, but what was the harm in sending him an invite?

' If he accepted and came that'd be good; if he didn't come, that would be okay too…Right?'

Alfred knew that it was his fault, he always put himself through this because he was too scared to invite his former caretaker. Taking the last bite of his Neopolitan, he looked out the glass wall of the parlor and chuckled, "To believe the hero is scared of doing something like inviting a person to a party…"

Alfred shook his head and picked out the Cookies n' Cream bowl and started on it, his mind drifting back to the situation with Arthur. Why he had such a hard time just inviting Arthur was beyond him; after the first two decades, Alfred and Arthur finally were able to speak to one another without an awkward silence looming over them all the time. As the decades passed they eased back into their normal routines, acting as though they've been friends for a long time. Well, they have. So there shouldn't be a reason why he would have such a hard time doing something so simple. Perhaps there's something to do with the habit of when he was a child; whenever he was nervous, even the simplest thing became hard. Even then, Alfred knew that this would just be another year that Arthur wouldn't be at the party; after all how could he know that he would host a party if he never got an invite? Alfred sighed, he only could _wish_ that he could somehow know about the party.

"I guess it's another year. I'll definitely invite him next year!" he perked.

. . .

"Yeah, next year. . ." Alfred muttered sadly, that's what he said the year before too.

His hands flew to his head as they buried themselves in his hair and groaned in frustration. Putting Arthur aside, he focused on his ice cream that slowly began to melt; placing all his vigor into eating the creamy dairy treats before him. All this time, Alfred hadn't noticed the multiple times where his phone spazzed in the pocket of his favorite bomber jacket. Finishing off his bowls, he threw the empty containers away and returned to the store.

"Charcoal, charcoal. . . " Alfred looked through the aisles and smiled, when he got to the section he was looking for, he picked out two random brands of charcoal and decided to head to the register. He felt his bomber jacket for his phone to check the time and saw a couple of missed calls, he paid them no mind but made a mental note to call the person back as he checked the time. _4:05pm._ His eyes drifted to the missed calls. _Mattie._ Ah, that explained it. Probably to ask him where the heck he was. Alfred paid for the bag of charcoal and made his way out of the store to go home, deciding to call Matthew on his way. Dialing his brother's number, he waited until he heard his brother's familiar voice.

"Yo Mattie!" he said loudly into the speaker, fully expecting his brother to be worried since he was already late for his own party.

**A/N: That's it for this chapter~! :D**

**After this story is done, should I add an omake? Let me know in a review or something! Still debating :)**

**Almost done with this story! :D**


	6. Surprise! I Love You

**Here's the last chapter everyone! :) Hope you enjoyed this story! Thank you to those who reviewed and followed and such :) Means a lot since this is my first fanfic!**

**I'm still deciding on if I should write an omake or not, I've had one person who encouraged me so who knows :)**

**I'll make a Canada Day one too though that one will be shorter, maybe a one shot (if I can even do a one shot xD )**

**The length of this whole story barely scrapes 18pages on Word xD (word count of this chapter is 1,920 just if you're wondering xD )**

**Thanks you guys! On to the final chapter~!**

"Al! Where are you!" Matthew hissed into the phone, his voice laced with anger and worry.

"_Whoa whoa Mattie, calm down! The hero's coming!"_

"What took you so long?! You were gone for hours! Did you buy the charcoal?"

_"Come on Mattie! I'm the hero! Of course I remembered! And… I kind of got distracted, but don't worry! I'm coming!"_

Matthew sighed, "You better be, you're late for your own party Al! . . Just like last time!"

A laugh was heard on the other end, "_I'll be there in five minutes tops, wait for me!"_

With that Alfred hung up, and Matthew put his phone down as Gilbert walked to him, "Alles falsch Vögelchen?"

Worry was faint on Gilbert's face as he smiled and replied, " Non, tout va bien,"

Matthew sometimes spoke to Gilbert in French, knowing that Gilbert spent a lot of time with Francis, so he was slightly familiar with French. The same went for him when Gilbert spoke German, due to habits and teaching. Gilbert's face relaxed and his usual grin spread out on his features, "Good, so who was that?"

"Alfred, he said he'll be here five minutes tops…" Matthew shook his head.

"Che, the bastard. Late for his own damn party." Gilbert muttered.

Matthew laughed as he and Gilbert made their way back to the party. A few minutes or so later, the front door burst open, and a familiar blue-eyed blonde standing in the doorway. "Hey everyone! The hero and star of the party has arrived!"

"Che, you're late for your own damn party Hamburger bastard!"Lovino yelled.

Alfred laughed with a grin, " I was heroically late because I was out buying charcoal! You can't have a barbeque without charcoal!"

The room was briefly filled with mutters of reluctant agreement, before Alfred flashed a triumphant smile, "So being the hero I am, I saved us all by getting charcoal! Mattie! Is the grill on?"

"Uhm, no but you can get it ready. I'll go make some pancakes."

Matthew made his way into the kitchen; Gilbert perked at hearing Matthew make pancakes and chased after him, claiming he would help. Alfred went out to the backyard and went to prep the grill to barbeque, eventually some of the guests trickled to the space in the backyard while some stayed in the house. With the star of the party present, everyone became livelier, eating and hanging out until the event of fireworks near the end of the party. Soon a few hours passed and the time of fireworks drew nearer.

Arthur had woken from his nap an hour or so ago, deciding that he wouldn't go to Alfred's party. Arthur had busied himself with things he would normally do on this day, and at the moment it was almost 7pm. He sat himself down in his chair and his mind reeled around the party; why his mind did this at the moment was beyond him. He had decided not to go hadn't he? So why was he still feeling the urge to get up, grab his coat and drive his arse down to Alfred's? "This is too bloody much for me…" Arthur muttered.

If he happened to change his mind and head to Alfred's he could just make an excuse that he was just passing by. If not, he could be wasting his one opportunity of getting an invite to just sulk by himself and hoping that he would maybe, just maybe, get invited again the next year. Arthur weighed the options for a good hour before he gave up and stood, grabbing his coat off the hanger, grabbed his keys and left for Alfred's. He may or may not kick himself for the decision he's made.

By now, most of the guests were in the backyard, mingling there until the fireworks would start. Matthew was the only one in the house, staying in the kitchen to clean a few things. He was a bit sad, the party was just about over and Arthur hadn't come; he was so hopeful that the British man would come. Just as he finished washing, he thought he heard a faint knock at the front door; he paused for a few moments until he heard the knock again, but slightly louder. Matthew furrowed his eyebrows ever so slightly, confused as to who that might be. A part of him wished it would be Arthur, but then again why would he come when the party was almost at its end? Nonetheless Matthew answered the door, his hopes crushed. There stood a man, "H-hello? Is this the. . ." He paused and looked at a small slip of paper, " McGraven's?"

Matthew blinked a few times, the name was one of his neighbors, "Oh, no I'm sorry. They're the house over." He pointed to the right house.

The man's eyes widened and he apologized for disrupting before he thanked Matthew for the help. Matthew simply smiled and watched as the man walked away, before closing the door. He began to head back to the kitchen before another knock stopped him, thinking it was the man coming back to ask another question, he went to answer it. "Yes? Can I help-"

Matthew's words caught in his throat as he stood there staring at his former caretaker, Arthur. His eyes widened before a smile slowly spread on his face; he lunged forward and wrapped his arms around the older man. "Arthur!"

The Brit chuckled and returned the hug, patting Matthew on the back, "Hello there lad, sorry to disturb you."

Matthew pulled away with a grin, " No, no it's okay! Are you here for the party?"

Matthew's grin got wider as he saw the Brit nod. Matthew beckoned Arthur inside as he closed the door and led him to the backyard. He was so giddy at the turn of events, his smashed hope revived the moment he realized it was Arthur standing at the door and not the stranger. Arriving at the backyard, Matthew was about to help Arthur find Alfred before he was pulled away by Gilbert.

"G-Gil?! Wait! I have to help-"

"No no Birdie, you're coming with me!" A smirk evident on his face as he pulled the blonde away. Gilbert paused for a second as he saw Arthur, "Yo Arthur. Imma borrow him!"

"S-sorry Arthur! You'll have to find Al yourself! He should be around here somewhere!"

Arthur waved awkwardly at the pair moving away from him before he turned to scan the backyard, trying to find a head of blonde. Looking around and walking slowly, he felt a hand on his shoulder, "Ah Arthur! Is that you _mon ami?_"

Arthur glared at the Frenchman, "What do you want you bloody frog?"

" Honhonhon~ How hurtful. Are you looking for someone _mon ami?_ Perhaps I can help."

"I'm looking for Alfred… Do you know where he is?"

"Aah _oui,_ I do. He should be around the grill." He pointed in the direction ahead.

"Thank you."

"Oh! Arthur! Please, you do not need to be so kind to _moi!"_ He said theatrically.

"Shut it you stupid frog! I'll have you know that I am quite the gentlemen because I want to be, unlike someone who does it for the benefit of getting into their pants." Arthur spat.

" Oh _mon ami,_ why must you hurt me with such words." Francis chuckled before waving, "Well good luck with _l'amour!_"

What Arthur didn't know and that Francis never told him, was that Alfred spotted them as their conversation was drawing to its close. It took a while for Alfred to accept that it was really Arthur that was standing there with Francis. Before he knew it, his feet took him to Arthur; as he drew near Arthur turned to see him and they both froze. Alfred simply stared at Arthur as the latter did the same.

"A-Artie."

"Alfred."

"W-what're you doing here?"

"Well, unlike you, the other lad had the manners to invite to your so called party." Arthur avoided trying to use the name of Alfred's brother, knowing full well he had forgotten it yet again. He watched as Alfred's eyes widened.

"M-Mattie invited you?"

Arthur began to get irritated at the American's inability to speak clearly, "Alfred, please speak clearly. How many times have I taught you to speak audibly and clearly? Hmph, and your manners are put to waste as well."

Alfred pouted, "My manners? What does that have to do with this?"

"If this is your party then shouldn't _you_ be the one to invite me? Not your brother? Honestly, how rude. Not inviting the person who raised you."

Alfred was quiet for a moment as he looked at the grass below his feet. "I… I was scared."

Arthur's eyes widened at Alfred's confession, not the confession itself but because of the fact that it was also his feeling, and most likely for the same reason. "Scared of?"

"That you wouldn't want to come even if I invited you. . . I kind. . . Y'know?"

They both were talking about the same issue, but what puzzled Arthur was that they were friends _now_, that's what mattered, and that's what hurt Arthur the most. The fact that they became friends again yet Alfred still didn't have the decency to invite him. "You stupid git, we're friends aren't we?!"

Alfred's head whipped up to stare at Arthur. "W-well, yeah… But, don't you still feel it?"

Arthur was really getting pissed off, "Yes it does but that doesn't matter! What matters is that we were able to move passed that to now! Don't you bloody get it you stupid American?! It hurt, yes but it doesn't matter because I. . . "

Arthur died down a little, knowing that Alfred was waiting for whatever he had to say. He took a breath before he said the next words quieter.

"Because I love you. . ."

He guessed that Alfred's eyes probably widened a hundred times at the words he had just spoken. Before he knew it, he felt strong arms wrap around him as he was lifted clear off the ground and swung left and right. Unprepared, Arthur made a small yell of surprise.

"Wha-?! What the bloody hell you stupid git?! Put me down!"

Alfred complied and set the older man down before grinning the biggest grin ever, "I love you too Artie!"

Both males had a blush dusted on their cheeks as they stared at each other, processing the words they had just exchanged. Alfred smiled again as he leaned in to peck Arthur's cheek. At that moment, the fireworks started, flying into the air and exploding into a beautiful array of colors and shapes. Alfred pulled away and entwined his fingers with Arthur's as they stood to watch the fireworks.

Arthur chuckled, "This seems like it's straight out of a cliché movie. A kiss, then as if on cue, fireworks." He shook his head with a smile. Alfred smiled, "Whatever you say Artie."

As they both looked at the display of fireworks, Alfred thought. He always loved his Independence Day parties, they were so fun! Though he always felt like something was missing, something he couldn't put his finger on, but as he stood there hand in hand with Arthur, he felt complete. He felt that one emptiness, just suddenly fill up. The emptiness filled up with Arthur. He was the thing that was missing all this time.

"Best Independence Day ever."

"Agreed."

**A/N: Thank you for following this story :) **

**It's a wrap~! ;D Omake may or may not come! :)**

**French:**

** Non, tout va bien - No, everything is okay**

**Mon ami - My friend**

**Moi - me**

**German:**

**Alles falsch Vögelchen? - Anything wrong Birdie?**


	7. Omake

**Oh I lied! :D My brain just somehow magically pushed out an omake xD though it's not really anything xD But I do hope it's still okay :)**

**I thank Animerulzs1267 for encouraging me to make an omake :) As for that I apparently had to make one xD**

**I decided to post this today because, where I am it's still July 3rd, but in some places it's already July 4th. . . I decided to post now xD**

**It's ****_very _****short _ sorry!**

"Artie!"

Arthur tried ignoring the American as he strolled through one of the large shopping malls in America. He was apparently supposed to hang out with Alfred for the day since his brother had disappeared somewhere to hang out with Gilbert, leaving Alfred alone all bored. Sadly, Arthur seemed to come at the wrong time.

_Arthur walked through the door of Alfred and Matthew's home just in time to see Matthew leaving. He greeted him, once again forgetting his name. Matthew brushed it off with a smile and informed Arthur he would be hanging out with Gilbert the whole day. As Arthur bid him farewell, he called out. "Alfred?"_

_In a matter of seconds, the blue-eyed blonde bolted down the stairs with an expression that screamed 'Oh my God I'm saved!' "Artie! I'm so glad you're here!"_

_Arthur didn't like where this was going, he cautiously asked why before Alfred explained. "Well since Mattie's going to hang with that Albino bastard for the whole day, I have nothing to do! We should hang out! Here, I'll take you to one of these malls in my country!"_

_Before I knew it I was being dragged against my will and into a car._

"Artie!"

The American was really getting on his nerves as he spun to face him. "What do you want you stupid git?!"

Alfred just smiled at him, a hand behind his back. Arthur quirked an eyebrow at him, "What?"

Alfred brought his arm from behind his back to reveal a bouquet of blood red roses. Arthur stared at the flowers like a deer in headlights, were these for him? When did the stupid wanker even _get_ flowers? He was snapped out of his thoughts when he heard Alfred's voice.

"Well? Aren't you gonna take them?"

"W-when did you get these?"

Alfred grinned, "When you were spacing out, we passed by a flower shop and I tried calling you, but you were ignoring me. . . I think… but anyways, I just went in and bought them."

"T-these are for me?"

"Yep! So you taking them or what?"

Arthur tentatively reached out to take the flowers, brushing his fingers over some of the petals, " T-thank you…"

Alfred chuckled as he saw the flushed cheeks of his boyfriend, " Hey Artie, you should speak audibly and clearly or else I can't hear you!"

Arthur glared at Alfred, knowing full well that's what he chastised Alfred about the night of Independence Day, "Shut up you stupid wanker, you just ruined the moment."

Alfred just grinned, "Love you too Artie."

Arthur couldn't help but smile, what was he going to do with this man. Love him, that's what.

**All done! :) Thanks for following! **

**Poet out! **


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